


my house of stone, your ivy grows (now i'm covered in you)

by thenewromantics



Category: Dawson's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cheating/Infidelity, F/M, NOT ON EACH OTHER THO don't worry besties, but joey is engaged, cheating is okay if it's with the love of your life, i don't really know how to describe this but it's an au where pacey and joey meet as adults
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29141568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewromantics/pseuds/thenewromantics
Summary: They tell you that one single event can set your entire being on a journey that it was never intended, or planned, to go on. Joey Potter had never experienced such a thing. That was, until now, until him.pacey and joey future au.
Relationships: Joey Potter/Pacey Witter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	my house of stone, your ivy grows (now i'm covered in you)

**Author's Note:**

> hey besties! i'm back! this time with a multi chaptered fic! i've had so much fun writing pacey and joey that i just knew that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. i'm so excited for this fic, i'm not going to give too much away because it's kind of a doozy but i hope y'all are ready because this fic is gonna be... a lot. 
> 
> title & fic inspiration both come from the song ivy by taylor swift.

They say that one moment can change the course of your life forever. That one single event can set your entire being on a journey that it was never intended, or planned, to go on. That you can look back and pinpoint the moment that everything changed. 

Joey Potter had never experienced such a moment. 

At the age of twenty eight years old, Joey felt like her life had been one predictable, meticulously planned moment after the next. Nothing of surprise, or shock, or excitement had ever really occurred. Her life was, honestly, kind of boring. 

She knew, living in Los Angeles, engaged to an up and coming film director, that boring was a bit of a sacrilegious word to use to describe her life, but she couldn’t really think of anything better. Every day, she woke up and lived the same exact life she had lived the day before. 

That was, until now, until  _ him.  _

* * *

It had started at a party. 

Ever since Joey had gotten a job with one of the smaller, indie publishing companies in LA, she had been invited to a lot of them. They weren’t quite as swanky, and elite as the parties that Dawson got invited to, but Joey felt ten times more comfortable at them. They usually took place in someone’s house and were catered by a locally owned restaurant, rather than some big name catering company. 

They felt cozy, homey almost. 

Joey ignored the voice deep in her mind that pointed out that Dawson  _ never _ accompanied her to these parties. Not that she never asked, of course, she always did, but he  _ always _ had an excuse not to come. A meeting with a producer, a workshop with a script writer, a headache after a long day of financial planning. 

She never argued, or complained that he didn’t come with her. She almost preferred to go alone, but she always had to hold back the urge to retort that she never skipped out on one of  _ his _ parties. She never did though, never wanted to start an argument that would lead to more accusations and insults then Joey would prefer to listen to. 

Joey loved Dawson, she had for years, but when he was mad, he was the meanest person she knew. 

So, that’s how Joey found herself, alone, wandering through the well decorated, but well lived in, house of her boss, Peter Harding. He was a mild mannered, well tempered, kind older man who wore tortoise shell glasses and had an extensive tie collection. 

“Joey, dear.” His voice suddenly called from across the living room. She had just entered the room after refilling her wine glass and could see him in the corner, a smile on his face as he spoke to a man that Joey was pretty sure had never seen before. “Come over here.” 

It wasn’t new for Peter to introduce her to people at these parties. Joey had risen pretty quickly up the ranks in the publishing house, and while she was still a junior editor, she was getting more and more assignments and Peter liked to introduce her to authors she might be working with. 

Smiling, Joey crossed the room quickly, as she got closer, she could see the smile on Peter’s face as he laughed at something the man had said. “Oh, Joey, here you are.” He said, tugging lightly on her elbow as he brought her in next to him. “I’d like you to meet someone.” 

Her eyes, which had been looking at Peter, shifted to the other man standing there. It was the first time she had gotten a good look at his face, and when her eyes finally met his, she felt the air leave her lungs. 

“Hi.” The man said, a smile on his face. A smile that sent butterflies to her stomach.  _ Oh no _ . She thought as she grabbed the man’s outstretched hand. “I’m Pacey.” 

The touch of his hand against hers shot electric currents through her skin, causing her to shiver. She coughed to cover it up, hoping that the man,  _ Pacey _ , didn’t notice. Not that she cared what Pacey thought of her or anything, no, of course not. 

“Nice to meet you, Joey.” She said, immediately blushing when she heard her own words, an embarrassed laugh leaving her lips. “I mean, Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Joey.” 

If Pacey had picked up on any of her strangeness, it didn’t register in his face. He merely grinned at her, an amused glint in his eye that felt kind rather than malicious. “Nice to meet you, Joey.” 

“Pacey here owns the restaurant that catered the evening.” Peter said, and Joey nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. She had forgotten he was standing there. “I went there with my wife a couple weeks ago and was very impressed.” 

Joey watched as Pacey smiled sheepishly, but pride was obvious in his eyes and Joey couldn’t help but smile. The food had been delicious, so really he had every reason to be proud. “Thank you, Mr. Harding, I’m glad you and wife enjoyed yourself. I was surprised, but incredibly honored, when you called me last week.” 

“What’s the name of your restaurant?” Joey asked, not ready for her part of the conversation to be over. There was something about the sound of Pacey’s voice and the way he spoke that made her want to keep listening to him talk. 

Pacey grinned at her, nodding his head. “True Love.” 

“True Love?” Joey questioned, ignoring the weird sinking sensation that appeared in her stomach. She looked down at her hands, her eyes finding the ring on her finger.  _ Dawson _ .  _ Remember him, Joey? Dawson. _

Pacey nodded again, taking a sip of the drink in his hand. “Yep. I opened it after I got out of a long term relationship. Kind of started believing after that that true love didn’t really exist, which ultimately turned into some kind of weird double meaning, because now I think the restaurant is my true love.” 

Mouth falling open slightly, Joey can only nod, unsure of how to handle all the information he just gave to her. Pacey, too, seems stunned that he just revealed all that information to her. A quick look to her side tells her that Peter had left them alone, no doubt off to talk to some of his other guests. 

“Well, at least you love what you do.” She said after a few beats of silence. 

He smiled at her words, “That I do.” He paused, regarding her in a way that made her skin burn in a pleasant tingle that she had never experienced before. “And what about you? Do you love what you do?” 

“Yeah.” Joey said with a grin, ignoring the way her entire body seemed to still be reacting to gaze. “Peter’s a great boss and being an editor is a lot of fun. Although my dream is to someday write my own novel.” 

“Your own novel? That’s so cool.” He took a small step forward, a genuine excitement and curiosity present in his tone. Joey was slightly taken aback. Most of the people she shared that dream with merely rolled their eyes and wished her luck. She never took it personally, those people were usually in the publishing and editing business, so they knew first hand how hard it was, but it was nice to hear someone be excited. 

Not even Dawson managed to do that most days. 

_God._ _I need to stop this._

Before Joey could formulate a response, Pacey was called over by Peter to meet another one of the guests, giving Joey a small smile before he stepped away. She watched him walk away, smiling softly when she saw him easily step into the next conversation. 

Shaking her head, she snapped her gaze away from him, quickly finishing the wine in her glass. She was definitely going to need another drink. She needed to push this conversation, and Pacey, from her mind and move on. 

* * *

Forty five minutes later, however, she had definitely  _ not  _ moved on. Not to say that there wasn’t something being pushed, but it wasn’t the conversation from her mind. 

It was her back against the bathroom door, and Pacey’s mouth against the crook of her neck. 

So, she supposed in a way, there was Pacey and pushing involved, just not in the way she had intended.  _ God, she was going to hell for this. _

See, Joey was  _ not _ the kind of girl who did this, not with anyone, not ever. In the ten or so years of her and Dawson’s on and off again relationship, she had never even thought about doing something like this. In fact, she prided herself on her loyalty in their relationship, staying faithful to him, even when they weren’t officially together. 

Before tonight, the mere fantasy of a bathroom tryst with a near stranger had never even crossed her mind, but now, she couldn’t imagine why. Because this was by far one of the most exhilarating experiences of her entire life. 

It wasn’t as if her and Dawson didn’t have a well developed physical relationship, because they did. Joey had lost her virginity to him back in college, and years of sex and kissing and sleeping in the same bed had allowed them to form a comforbility with each other that she had never had before. On the other hand, that comfortability had made for an extreme lack of passion. 

Sure, physical experiences weren’t ever necessarily  _ bad _ with Dawson, but he had never made her feel the way that she felt at this moment in time. Head spinning, vision blurring, breath quickening passion that made her feel like her entire body was on fire. 

Yeah, she had never been this turned on before. Ever. 

Pacey’s lips were warm and soft against the skin of her collarbone and she arched her back to push her chest against him, a futile effort to give him more access. A sound that was somewhere between a moan and a sigh left her lips. No one had ever made her make  _ that _ noise before. 

Finally, his lips left her neck and pressed against her lips and if Joey’s hands weren’t clasped around the curve of his shoulders she might have fallen to the ground.  _ It should be illegal for someone to kiss like that.  _

Deep down Joey knew that this couldn’t go any further, hell it shouldn't have gotten this far at all, but she couldn’t take back what had already happened. She was still engaged, and Pacey was still, for all intents and purposes, a stranger. After this they would go their separate ways and never see each other again. 

She would go back to being Dawson’s fiancée, she would marry him eight months from now, and never do anything like this ever again. 

At least, that’s what she told herself, because right now, it was hard to imagine never doing this again. In fact, it was hard to imagine doing  _ anything _ else other than this. 

“I should tell you,” Pacey said, his mouth finally pulling away from hers. Joey licked her lips, trying not to frown at the loss of contact, “that I don’t usually do stuff like this.” 

Joey couldn’t help but grin, a strange sense of pride welling up within her. She knew it was bad, the feeling of self satisfaction she got at his words, but she couldn’t help but feel at least a little bit of pleasure in knowing that she made him feel the same way he made her feel. 

“Neither do I.” She whispered, their lips still close enough where she could see his body shiver at the feeling of her breath. 

“I don’t know what came over me.” Pacey’s voice was deep, and husky, and a pool or warmth flooded Joey’s stomach, knees buckling. “But I spent the forty five minutes between our conversation and now thinking about you.” 

A blush warms her cheeks and Joey smiles, looking down at the bathroom floor before looking back up into his eyes. She had noticed them when they were introduced, how could she not, but now looking into them, she was in awe of how blue they were. Like a tropical ocean, or a sapphire gemstone. 

“I was thinking about you, too.” She admits. And she had been. Despite her best efforts to converse with her various coworkers and colleagues, her mind kept drifting back to him. Her eyes had sought him out a couple of times, but she always snapped herself out of it before she dared to land on him. She had been playing a dangerous game. 

And right now she couldn’t tell whether she had won or lost. 

Joey is kind of fuzzy on the events that got them into the bathroom. All she knows is she had finally bumped into him, this time completely on accident. She had been going back towards the kitchen to see if there was anything she needed to do before leaving, and Pacey was coming from the kitchen. 

One thing led to another, and here they were. 

Outside the door there was a noise, something that sounded suspiciously like a serving tray being dropped to the floor and Pacey groaned. Any sexual tension that had been hanging in the air dissipated and Joey sighed softly to herself. 

Stepping away from the door, she let Pacey out first, and he smiled gratefully as he stepped in front of her. Before he could leave the room, however, he stopped, turning to look at her, his eyes staring at her so intensely she could hardly breathe. 

“It was nice to meet you, Joey.” He says softly, a smile gracing his face. His words are polite and kind, but Joey can read the meaning behind them.  _ “This was good. I want to do it again.” _

“It was nice to meet you too, Pacey.” She replies, returning his smile in kind. She hopes he can read the meaning behind hers.  _ “It was good. We can’t, but I wish we could.” _

He gives her one more smile before disappearing into the room where the noise had come from earlier. Joey waits a couple more seconds before leaving the bathroom, looking around to make sure no one saw her. The party was coming to a close, many of the guests having left already, but there were still some people milling around. 

Everyone at work knew she was engaged. They didn’t know Dawson, but they knew he wasn’t Pacey. 

She left the party without another word to anyone. 

* * *

The house was dark by the time Joey pulled up a little while later. This wasn’t that surprising, Dawson hardly ever stayed up to wait for her, and usually if he did it was because he had lost track of time. He had been working on such a weird schedule lately, it was amazing sometimes that they even had the time to see each other. 

Usually it didn’t bother her to come home to a quiet, dark, house. It gave her a couple minutes of alone time to debrief after socializing all evening, before going to bed. But tonight, it felt different. It felt wrong. 

And in a way it was. She was home later than she usually was after these parties. It was almost midnight, her rendezvous with Pacey in the bathroom setting her back about a half an hour more than she typically was. 

Uneasiness coiled in her stomach and she took a deep breath as she walked through the house towards their bedroom. The door was cracked, and Joey could barely bring herself to look at him as she opened it. 

She changed quickly, moving to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash the makeup from her face. She couldn’t even bear to meet her own eyes in the mirror, too afraid of what would be lurking within them. 

Hovering in the doorway between the bathroom and bedroom, Joey’s eyes moved around the room, a quivering sigh leaving her lips. As much as she thought this life was boring sometimes, she couldn’t deny how good it had been to her, especially after all she had been through. 

Her gaze finally landed on Dawson, who was asleep on his back, arm underneath his pillow. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, a change from the Dawson she had some to know in the last couple of weeks. She felt a deep pang in her heart as her eyes studied him, this boy, no this man, she had known, and loved, for so many years of her life. 

However, she couldn’t shake the reality that despite the deep pang and hurt she felt for what she had done to Dawson, she felt very little regret. Maybe it was because she knew it was a one time thing, or because it was purely physical and bore no emotional weight, leaving her love for Dawson to remain purely intact. 

Even though, she knew deep down that if given the chance to redo the night all over again, she would still go into that bathroom. 

Sighing loudly, she shook her head, desperate to clear it of thoughts of tonight. Clearly the best thing to do was just to not think about it anymore, if she didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t be an issue. She could move on with her life and it could remain an indiscretion that never gets mentioned ever again. 

Right? 

Right. 

Throwing the covers back, she crawls in next to Dawson, turning so her back is to him. Usually they fall asleep facing each other, but looking at him doesn’t feel like something she’s earned the right to do tonight. He makes a small sound of acknowledgement that she’s now in bed with him, but he makes no move to touch or pull her closer to him. 

Which is fine by her, she doesn’t deserve his affection right now, nor does she really want it. Parts of her body are still tingling from where Pacey’s hands had roamed, and it was likely that physical attention from Dawson would just throw her more off kilter, and possibly into an emotional spiral rivaled only by the one she experienced when her mom passed away. 

Long moments of silence stretched out in the darkness of the bedroom, and Joey eventually felt her exhaustion start to overcome her, Dawson’s slow breathing behind her being the lull that finally tipped her over the edge. 

Worst part of all, though, is that while it was Dawson’s breathing that filled her ears, the only thing that she could see when she closed her eyes were Pacey’s piercing blue eyes. 

**Author's Note:**

> so... thoughts? this fic is going to be so much fun, and hopefully y'all are excited to read it like i'm excited to write it. this relationship between pacey and joey is going to be very messy but also very fun and probably a little angsty too but in a fun way. so, lemme know what y'all thought of the first chapter! 
> 
> (also, just to make it clear i obviously don't condone cheating irl, but this isn't real so... also pacey and joey are in love so if they want to cheat i think we should let them)


End file.
